Unpacking the mediating role of classroom interaction between student satisfaction and perceived online learning among Chinese EFL tertiary learners in the new normal of post-COVID-19

Online learning has become increasingly prevalent in the era of digitalization, impacted by both internet penetration and the COVID-19 pandemic. Classroom interaction, as a key factor in evaluating students' learning experience in online settings, has been identified to be associated with their academic achievement. While previous research has underscored the significance of classroom interaction in language learning settings, there is relatively limited research on its relationships with student satisfaction and learning. This research intends to explore classroom interaction and its mediating role in the correlation between student satisfaction and perceived online learning in online contexts. Given this, the paper reports a quantitative-method study that examined how Chinese EFL tertiary students perceived three types of classroom interaction (i.e., learner-learner, learner-instructor, and learner-content), their satisfaction, and its influences on their perceived online learning. Data was collected from 319 Chinese university students through convenience sampling and a self-designed questionnaire, and then analyzed with the help of SPSS. The results showed that: 1) the students had moderately positive perceptions of classroom interaction and online learning, but were neutral about their satisfaction; 2) positive correlations were observed between classroom interaction, student satisfaction, and online learning; and 3) student satisfaction predicted perceived online learning, with classroom interaction partially mediating this relationship. The findings of this research have implications for strengthening the effectiveness of online language teaching in the post-COVID-19 era.